Hi
that sounds a lot like "Design Rights".
-> "Geschmacksmuster (German industrial design right)" Yes it is design right.
With that we make it possible to cover the details of what happens with a design when manufactured. Something the GPL doesn't cover even remotely.
It's a legal hack in order to make the license expand into territories no other free license has expanded into so far. We're lucky to have a very gifted lawyer with us on board (Cedric, dead friend and co-founder of the company) who has studied law in the university Beijing and knows Chinese law very well. With the support of some of his friends and some lawyers from Germany we're close to finalizing our new license which is applicable in every country by making use of legal constructs like the "design right".
Cheers David